Decade after Rodney King: LAPD has faced riots, O.J. and Rampart
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LOS ANGELES - It was 10 years ago today that Los Angeles officers beat Rodney King in what became an enduring symbol of police brutality and a flashpoint for racial tensions.
It also was the first in a series of blows that have shattered the reputation of the Los Angeles Police Department.
Mere mention of the 1991 beating causes those in power to cringe as they recall the morning the city awoke to a chilling video of the black motorist being clubbed and kicked by four white officers as he writhed in agony on the ground.
The video, made by an onlooker, shocked the public.
But that was just the beginning. When the four officers were acquitted a year later, the city erupted in the worst race riot Los Angeles had ever seen. When the smoke cleared on May 2, 1992, 55 people were dead and 2,383 were injured. Damage was put at $1 billion.
Two officers were later found guilty in federal court of violating King's civil rights.
Police Chief Daryl Gates was driven out. Commissions made wide-ranging recommendations for reform.
Yet reform efforts would be overshadowed by events that further damaged the force whose reputation for integrity was burnished by "Dragnet" and "Adam-12."
Segue to O.J. Simpson
The King beating was followed by criticism of how police handled the 1992 riots and later the O.J. Simpson case. And now, the department is struggling with a corruption scandal in its Rampart division that has led to more than 100 convictions being overturned.
"Rodney King was about police abuse, O.J. was about police incompetence and Rampart is about police corruption. That's a pretty grim picture for the LAPD," said Laurie Levenson, a Loyola University Law School professor. "What Rodney King taught us is you can't ignore the problems and hope they will go away."
District Attorney Steve Cooley, who was elected in November and whose office is prosecuting the Rampart corruption cases, said police morale is devastated.
"People who worked all their lives for this department are leaving," he said. "Right now they're in the hurt locker. Healing takes a long time. Law enforcement needs esprit de corps and pride. Something will have to happen to make them proud again. Maybe it will be some effective reforms."
Uneven reform
After the King beating, a commission headed by former Secretary of State Warren Christopher was assembled to come up with reforms. Some were implemented, some were not.
Christopher said recently that the report had significant results in strengthening the city's civilian police commission, limiting the police chief's term and creating the office of inspector general.
But he said there is still a need for better training, regular psychological testing of officers and system of tracking citizen complaints.
In any case, the Simpson murder trial in 1995 would bring new disrepute. The LAPD was accused of mishandling evidence and was criticized over Detective Mark Fuhrman, who eventually admitted committing perjury in denying he used racial slurs. In an embarrassment for the force and prosecutors, the case ended in the former football star's acquittal.
`Rampart is worse'
And then, last year, the LAPD was hit with another scandal when officers in the department's Rampart division, in a gang-infested neighborhood, were accused of planting evidence, lying under oath and even shooting unarmed suspects.
Five officers have been charged. One was acquitted, the convictions of three were overturned, and the fifth is awaiting trial on attempted-murder charges.
"The King incident was a spontaneous reaction to a middle-of-the-night situation. I think Rampart is worse," said Lou Cannon, author of the book "Official Negligence: How Rodney King and the Riots Changed Los Angeles and the LAPD."
"What went on in Rampart was a lot more cold-blooded," Cannon said. "There was an element of malevolence, of premeditation and planning."
Recently the city agreed to federal oversight of the LAPD to try to end racial profiling and brutality.